Why? Why, you ask?
The answer is obvious—because I despise you.
If only I had acted sooner—
Not as a Satan, but as a man—
Not as a pawn of that fiend, but as a living being filled with hatred for you—
I might have saved her, Lilith.
In a corner of the blazing Underworld, three figures faced each other.
The King of Magecraft Solomon. Known as the king who knew only wrath, he loved humanity yet could not forgive them. Revived in the present world using the body of a "Transcender" created from the mother of devils, Lilith.
The apocalyptic beast Trihexa. A great calamity born of humanity, he knew their beauty and was defeated by them. He stood here to destroy the King of Magecraft, his origin, to stop this foolish king from tainting the spectacle that satisfied him.
And the King of Men Goetia. He was here to secure the future of this world's people.
"Nice to meet you, this world's Solomon. Now, die. That's all the talk we need."
"Eh?"
Solomon, stunned by Goetia's blatant hostility, froze with a blank expression.
"Huh? Sorry, why am I so hated? Trihexa's the same, but why are you both so cold to me? Hey, why?"
"Hey, foolish king. Are you seriously saying that?"
"What a lively scene. Fitting for the end of this Underworld—this garbage dump."
A new intruder appeared. Its form was that of a devil, but its essence was different.
With the same enmity he directed at Solomon, Goetia wove the name of his nemesis.
"The Red Serpent Samael."
Its name meant the poison of God. Or perhaps God's malice. The forbidden serpent of Eden. Or—the Red Dragon.
"Before greetings, let me say thank you. Yes, indeed. I am Samael. The one destined to become this world's new god."
"…So that body is your vessel."
"Exactly. As you likely know, my true form is sealed in the lowest depths of hell, the Cocytus of the Underworld. But my consciousness can surface by using a devil's body."
"So that's the truth behind why devils and fallen angels are equated."
It's not just that Beelzebub, once an angel, is counted among devils. Many devils—not just Beelzebub, but Lucifer, Asmodeus, Leviathan, and others—are equated with fallen angels.
The original fallen angel dominated many devils at a genetic level. That's the simple truth. Because so many devils were affected, even unrelated, prominent devils were imbued with the influence of Truth, distorting reality itself.
"Yes, indeed. But I can't choose bodies freely. Once a vessel is fixed, I can't move to another until it dies. And not all devils are viable. The original Extra Demons and the Four Great Satans are exempt."
"Wouldn't it be more accurate to say you can possess devils born from Lilith?"
"…You noticed."
"Is that so surprising?"
Samael was one of the original angels. He planted the Tree of Knowledge in Eden and gave the apple to humanity, or so it is said. Naturally, he knew Adam and Eve, so it's reasonable to assume he also knew Lilith, Adam's first wife.
And he did something to Lilith. The woman abandoned by the first man was used throughout her life. The true nature of her goddess-like ability to birth devils was this aberrant malice.
Solomon's use of a devil's body for revival is related to this. He anticipated Samael's attempt to seize the body and planned to consume its consciousness instead. Samael, however, saw through this.
"Well, that Sir-something and A… uh, what was it… anyway, I couldn't control the 'Transcender' either. That's why I used this body."
Samael shrugged, but his expression carried irritation. Irritation at a mere devil defying his will. Or rather, the "Transcender" could hardly be called a devil.
"That dimwitted Venus fool didn't notice, of course. Let alone realize he was on par with—"
"—As expected, one of the original Satans is your vessel."
Samael's anger at having his words preempted was overshadowed by shock that Goetia had reached this conclusion.
"The intense unease hit me while sorting through information about the Great War."
The tripartite Great War.
Caused by the Biblical Three Factions, it embroiled aberrations worldwide, was disrupted by the Two Heavenly Dragons, and ended forcibly with the deaths of God and the Four Great Satans. The Three Factions have not fully recovered from its wounds.
"There are too many ambiguities and contradictions about this war. First, its outbreak."
The war began after the God of the Bible sealed Trihexa.
"Who started that war? What was its trigger?"
The enmity between God, devils, and fallen angels is ancient. Yet, that war is considered distinct.
Not God. He was weakened by sealing the apocalyptic beast. There was no merit in starting a war then. Angels ignoring God's will is unthinkable. Conversely, it was the perfect opportunity for God's enemies—devils and fallen angels.
If devils or fallen angels knew of God's weakness, it aligns, but another contradiction arises. How did they know of God's weakening or Trihexa's sealing, unnoticed even by the archangels?
"Next, the intrusion of the Two Heavenly Dragons."
The Two Heavenly Dragons. The Red Dragon, Ddraig Goch. The White Dragon, Albion Gwiber. Legendary dragons who surpassed kings but fell short of godhood. Incarnations of two tribes from Welsh lore.
"The war paused due to their intrusion. Dragons are like sentient natural disasters. With both Heavenly Dragons, halting a nation's war is inevitable. But why did the Three Factions unite to defeat them?"
If dragons are disasters, why confront them? Why not simply wait them out? For world-class faction leaders, not reckless heroes, there's no reason to sacrifice their forces to defeat the Heavenly Dragons.
Or why not change the battlefield? The Underworld is as vast as Earth. There should be plenty of places to avoid the dragons' conflict. If they couldn't, how localized was this war?
If it was an unknown threat—like Goetia, Trihexa, or an evil dragon—it might make sense. But the Heavenly Dragons were known entities, recognized disasters. Why cooperate to defeat them instead of passing the burden?
Was their intrusion truly accidental? Or was the battlefield deliberately chosen where the Heavenly Dragons would appear?
"Someone was manipulating from behind. Someone induced thoughts—not on an individual level, but on a racial, factional scale."
The entire world was dancing in the palm of one being's hand.
"It was you. You were pulling the strings."
"I'd love to say you're right, but it's slightly off. Beelzebub isn't a vessel—it's more like an avatar. A vessel can be freely overtaken, but an avatar isn't so simple. Think of India's Avatars. The Ideal King is Vishnu descended as a human, but a distinct entity, right?"
"I see. And that's why Beelzebub is equated with Samael. I unknowingly chose him as an accomplice."
Solomon clicked his tongue sharply.
"The Book of Revelation says, 'The red dragon gave the beast its power, throne, and great authority.' This 'red dragon' could be Great Red, but it's actually you. Dragons and serpents were often equated in many eras and civilizations. Their distinction is relatively recent in human history. 'Red Serpent.' One of your aliases. You planted the Tree of Knowledge in Eden, didn't you? Then, likewise, the Tree of Life—wasn't that your doing too? Trihexa wasn't naturally born; you created it. All to ascend as a god yourself."
Samael laughed, a manner ill-suited to his host body.
"Impressive, Goetia. I applaud you. You reached me splendidly."
His provocative demeanor held no malice, which only infuriated Goetia and Trihexa more.
"The final anomaly of that war—God's death. Who achieved the godslaying?"
The Three Factions hid the truth of God's demise from other mythologies. They had to. Otherwise, the war wouldn't have ended. It would have continued until two factions—or all three—were annihilated. Without that, no war would have started, no matter how much a venomous serpent incited it.
"The Two Heavenly Dragons? Impossible. They were sealed in Sacred Gears by God. A weakened God dying from overwork is possible—but then, why not use a simpler seal to reduce the burden?"
Having studied the Heavenly Dragons' God-Slaying Gears, the Demon Gods could assert: with the capacity for such complex seals, their sealing wasn't the direct cause of death.
The peculiar fixation on their sealing was likely for efficient energy recovery via the System. With Boost and Divide—Absorption—energy collection would have been substantial, especially with Juggernaut Drive.
"Fallen angels? No. If they killed God, they'd have acted more boldly, claiming victory."
Azazel withdrew from the war, but supremacist fallen angels like Kokabiel wouldn't have stayed silent.
"Angels? The least likely."
No explanation needed. Serving God is the essence of angels. Killing God would have made them fallen angels long before.
"Aberrations beyond the Three Factions, the Heavenly Dragons, or humans? Then this world wouldn't exist."
Unless conditions overwhelmingly favored the Three Factions, a godslaying legend would have spread globally.
"Thus, it must be devils. They suffered the most in the tripartite war, losing Satans and many high-class devils. If a godslaying were revealed then, the war wouldn't have paused. Even if fallen angels were dealt with, angels wouldn't stay silent. Hence the need to obscure it."
The undeniable truth forced everyone to keep silent.
"Then the question becomes: which devil did it?"
"No further speculation is needed. I, who know all, will reveal the truth."
Samael's face showed deep displeasure, not because Goetia grasped the truth, but because he hadn't reached the most infuriating truth.
"God died right after sealing the Two Heavenly Dragons. At that moment, only God and the Four Great Satans were present. God was exhausted—no, weakened—partly from sealing the apocalyptic beast before the war."
Samael had monitored Trihexa through his vessel. The beast was meant to be defeated by a savior, but he refused, saying it wasn't his role. A third failure, following Moses and Solomon.
"The Satans seized the opportunity. The first to act was the original Asmodeus, Solomon's accomplice and confidant. Unaware of Solomon's ideal truth, he judged it advantageous to kill God when possible. The original Leviathan followed. God, in a final surge, killed these two Satans but exhausted his power. The one who killed the now-human-level God was the original Lucifer."
The problem began there.
"Then Lucifer was killed by Beelzebub, but who killed Beelzebub? Did they die together?"
"Here's the most infuriating part—after killing Lucifer, Beelzebub took his own life!"
"What?"
"What did you say?"
Even Solomon didn't know this. Neither Michael nor Azazel reached this truth. They only knew God and the Four Great Satans died. It must have looked like they perished together after sealing the Heavenly Dragons.
"My plan never included Lucifer's death! My order to Beelzebub was to absorb him, not kill him! Had that succeeded, my plan would have been complete! The Throne of Heaven would have been mine long ago!"
Samael, Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Trihexa—they are equated under the name "Satan." Except for Solomon and the God of the Bible, only Samael could wield Truth. The King of Magecraft was sealed in his ring, and the One God had just died. Thus, Samael alone could unleash its full might.
By merging with Beelzebub under his name, exploiting God's absence to hijack the System, releasing and absorbing Trihexa, he would surpass omniscience and omnipotence to become the One God, creating a perfect paradise where none would wish to escape.
But a devil's rampage delayed it—his own avatar.
"Beelzebub killed Lucifer of his own will. A mere avatar dared defy my plan and then took his own life!? What did he want!? It was his choice to die. Why? Why did that fly ruin my ideal!?"
He always obeyed. The most loyal pawn. Even separated, as part of Samael, he shouldn't have betrayed him. Beelzebub had no such function. His sole purpose was to make Samael a god.
"If Beelzebub wanted to become a god, he didn't need to kill Lucifer. If he didn't want me as a god, he could have attacked my true form in the Underworld. He could have led the Heavenly Dragons to me. He had countless chances to betray me but didn't. Did Beelzebub suddenly feel an urge to kill Lucifer!?"
Impossible.
Beelzebub was hollow inside. That emptiness earned him the sin of Gluttony. A void never sated, no matter how much it devoured.
"What desire could such a loveless puppet possibly harbor!?"
***
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